‘Virgin’ offers human warmth and raunchy laughs

It may not make you feel shiny and new, but Judd Apatow’s “The 40

Year Old Virgin” will touch you and make you laugh at the very same

time.

Co-written by Apatow and Steve Carell (“Anchorman”), this is

another raunchy comedy, a la “Wedding Crashers,” that successfully

combines a sweet love story with belly laughs.

Carell plays Andy, a meek, well-scrubbed stock clerk who dresses

like he’s still in the high school chess club. He’s never learned to

drive, and he collects action toys and video games.

Where co-workers regale each other with stories about their

escapades with the ladies, Andy will recount an exciting day of

making egg salad.

When the guys find out Andy’s secret, they immediately try to help

him, although they’re clueless about love themselves.

“So that’s what’s wrong with you; I thought you were a serial

killer,” blurts out crude but well meaning Cal (played by Seth

Rogan).

David (Paul Rudd) is pining over a lost love who has long since

forgotten him.

Smooth-talking Jay (Romany Malco) is a player who urges Andy to

lose the “Teen Wolf” look, with hilariously disastrous results.

But painfully shy Andy doesn’t want to just get lucky, he wants to

date a nice girl. He finds one in Trish (Catherine Keener), who is

herself a little gun-shy. Watching their relationship develop is a

charming story on its own.

All the actors are wonderful, including Jane Lynch as the boss who

would be happy to solve Andy’s predicament.

I like that this movie, instead of going strictly for cheap, cruel

laughs at Andy’s expense, injects some warmth and insight about

loneliness, sex and love in today’s world.

The giddy surprise ending underlines an innocence that can still

exist at any age.

* SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant

for a financial services company.

Bill Murray delivers

his best deadpan

The film “Broken Flowers” shares the same sensitivity and offbeat

look at relationships that made “Lost In Translation” a best picture

nominee. And it happens to star Bill Murray as a jaded middle-aged

bachelor, not unlike the character that earned him a best actor

nomination for that earlier film.

The story begins with an anonymous letter informing Murray that he

is the father of a 19-year-old son previously unknown to him. He

scours his memory to recall four sexual partners from that time who

might be the mother of this young man. His computer-savvy neighbor,

played with great humor by Jeffrey Wright, helps him track down his

old flames.

Murray then embarks on a road trip that brings him back in touch

with all his old lovers. This odyssey lands him in the middle of

their present circumstances, where he is met with varying degrees of

welcome.

Sharon Stone, Jessica Lange, Frances Conway and Tilda Swinton are

all outstanding as the wildly divergent women from his past. They run

the gamut of professions and lifestyles. They are the real stars of

the four minimovies that result from this unusual premise and the

fine screenplay. We wonder along with Murray what his life might have

been like had he stayed with any of his former paramours.

Murray is at his deadpan best as he visits the charred remains of

these old affairs.

“Broken Flowers” is a thoughtful film about life and love that

doesn’t follow any of the usual Hollywood formulas. It explores what

is sad and cynical, but it remains funny and gentle at the same time.

* JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator

for the Orange County public defender’s office.

‘Red Eye’ is formulaic

but entertaining

There are films that must be derived from some known formula.

Looking back at “Red Eye,” this is invariably what I see. But that

doesn’t mean that the appeal isn’t there.

Here, you have your basic girl-gets-caught-in-the-middle-of-an

assassination-plot-and-is-given-anultimatum-and-must-make-the-rightde

cision scenario.

Lisa Reiter (Rachel McAdams), the manager of the Lux Atlantic

hotel on Miami Beach, takes the red-eye flight from her

grandmother’s funeral in Texas back to Florida.

At the airport, Reiter befriends a stranger, Jackson Rippner

(Cillian Murphy), who coincidentally ends up with a seat right next

to her on the flight.

Once situated on the plane, the story reveals itself as Rippner

attempts to coerce Reiter into making a phone call that would nearly

ensure the assassination of the deputy secretary of Homeland Security

-- the primary objective of Rippner and his cause. The catch is, if

Reiter doesn’t make this call, her dad dies.

Although the majority of this movie takes place in the air, that’s

not to say the ground is without its share of thrill.

I must give props to writer Carl Ellsworth for how well crafted

the plot and characters appear to be. As I mentioned before, there

seems to be some sort of formula involved. As Lisa and Jackson get to

know each other, there is something about their chemistry that makes

the audience not want them together.

The story itself seems to roll along without any unnecessary

obstacles, with enough turmoil to maintain the intensity.

Director Wes Craven also adds his own angle -- literally, with a

variety of camera shots that plunge into the depths of the

character’s thoughts and reveal what the story discloses on a

subconscious level.

Although suspense was obviously the prime emotion in “Red Eye,”

there was some comic relief that offered consolation.

This is a summer movie that should be seen, but it will no doubt

be forgotten in the coming months, which is in some ways unfair. The

writing was good, as was the direction and acting. Moviegoers can’t

go wrong with this one.

* SARA SALAM is a student at Corona del Mar High School.